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Patented Aug. 14, 1888.

yhc'suf-to'mey- J. N. PARKER.

(No Model.)

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NITED STATES iPnTsnT Trice,

JOSEPH N. PARKER, OF VINELAND, NEXV JERSEY.

HOE..

SPECIFICATION forming pm of Leners Parent No. 387,806, dated August 14,laas,

Application filed November 14, 18S?. Serial No. Qiil). (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

'Be it knownthat I, Josnri-r N. PARKER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Vineland,Cumberland county, New Jersey, have inventedcertain improvements in Hoes, ol which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to so construct a hoe that it will haveseveral acting faces of dii'ercnt character, and can be so held as tobring either` of these faces into use, as the character of the work tobeperformed may suggest, another object being to permit the ready changingof the handles ol' the hoe. These objects l obtain in the mannerhereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which- Figure 'l is a perspective view of the hoeblade andhandle-socket detached from each other. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionon the line l 2, showing the hoe-blade secured to the socket; and Fig. 3is a transverse section on the line 3 4. Figs. 2 and 3 are on a largerscale than Fig. l.

A is the blade of the hoe, which is of triangular form, all three of thesides of the blade being preferably sharpened, and one of said sidesbeing toothed by the formation in the blade of Vshaped notches a. In theblade,

at or about the center of the saine, is formedA an opening, I), which isin the present instance of oct-agonal form, although it may be of anyform not circular. The blade is secured to a socket, B, which istubular, and is ilared at the inner end for the reception oi" thehandle, as shown by dotted lines, the socket having near the front endan enlargement, d, forming a shoulder, and that portion of the socketwhich projects forward beyond the shoulder being of such size that itcan be passed freely through the opening in thehoc-blade. In securingthe blade to the socket this projecting portion of the socket is passedthrough the opening in the blade until the projection d bears againstthe inner face of said blade, and the projecting portion of the socketis then subjected to a swaging operation, whereby it is upset, so as tocompletely fill the opening in the blade and form on the outer face ofsaid blade a rim, f, overlapping the blade around the edges of theopening, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. By this means the blade is rigidlysecured to the socket and cannot turn or twist thereon, owing to theshape of the opening in the blade; hence the tool can be held in anyposition, either of the two plain sides, the toothed side, or the pointbeing available for use, the position of the bladebeing dependent uponthe character of the work to be performed, and that port-ion of theblade being used which is calculated to best accomplish the work inhand.

The blade of the hoe is disbedthat is to say, the inner face of theblade is concaved both longitudinally, as shown in Fig. 2, andlaterally,as shown in Fig. 3. Therefore, whichever side of the blade isbeing used, there will be a forward rake of the acting portion of theblade, such as is desired in any tool in the nature of a hoe.

The point of the blade is extremely effective in digging or looseningthe soil around the roots of bushes or plants, and the toothed side ofthe blade is much more effective than a plain side for the removal ofweeds, the latter being caught in the V-shaped recesses between theteeth, so that they can be readily pulled away. As the socket is open atboth ends, provision is afforded for driving out the handie by means ofan implement inserted from the outer end of the socket when a change ofhandles becomes necessary.

I claim as my invention- 1. rlhe combination of the hoe-blade,consisting of a dat plate concaved both longitudinally and transverselyfrom edge to edge, with

